Average Joe, a Death Row inmate on Florida´s Death Row since 1977, describes his life.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

The end of the day - by Average Joe

And so once again - Plug your ears. Chow Time !

4:45 p.m. tonight's meal is one that´s ok. A burrito slice of cheese. Rice - salad and a cookie - it´s not great - but, you can fill up on it. And now - another important time of day approaches.

Mail time. It´s always a spirit lifter to receive mail from a loved one - family or friend. It´s a life line to them - the free world. A way to keep love and care flowing. Doesn´t matter if it´s full of interesting news ect, if it´s just a note. That´s ok. Or news of every day life. You touch home base. You get a smile or laugh - or share a problem or a sadness that may have occurred. It´s the sharing ! So, yes, it is important !

It always sucks, when the mail man passes and doesn´t stop at your door ! I got two so I´m good ! Can you sense the smile ?

7 p.m. not much on T.V. tonight - so I´ll hang out withthe guys till 10 p.m.Then catch "N.Y.P.D. Blue". Hopefully they won´t show Dennis Franz´s butt, that could scar a person for life ! They only did it once - but, that was once too many. Time to play jeopardy. Play with my two neighbors. Well I lost tonight. 12 right for my neighbors, 5 for the others, 10 for me.

We play or I do, cause it keeps the old brain oiled. Same reason I do crossword puzzle and read. Plus I learn a lot and it passes time. A lot of what I do - it´s just getting through a day. I get through today then I´ll worry about tomorrow - tomorrow.

And yes, I´ve done these same things over and over for years. And sometimes I´m just going through the motions ! Not really experiencing them. But, that´s part of survival too. I´ve survied 28 years of them. By my math 10,120 such days ! And yes, there´s times when I just want to say screw it. Just lay on my bunk and let the world pass on by. I even allow myself to have a pity party for a day or two here and there ! Then that old voice says - get your butt up and be about something. It´s that spirit - or will - that knows no quitting !

True I need to get a life. I´m working on it. Who knows what the future holds. And I decided long ago I will stick around to see where it all leads. And find things to enjoy along the way. Remain myself not what this place would make of me.

Time for "N.Y.P.D. Blue" ! I´m back 11 p.m. Time for lights out - in the hall and in the cell. T.V. stays on - time for me to hear the sirens´ song - crash open their rocks. They call me with promises of delights I´ve never dreamed of. Like from the tales of Ulysses !

So, I shall bid all of you good night ! Another day in Paradox !Take care and stay strong in the fight !

2 Comments:

Hi Britta,It's good to see our friend back again .... and even better to see him making jokes again! :-) I love his comment about the coffee tasting like crap - I bet it does too!I remember my friend in Texas Ad Seg telling me how they always inspect the food in case one of the spiteful guards decided to spit in it ... yeuck! imagine having to do that every time you want to eat. Makes you wonder what kind of people they are if they get pleasure from treating human beings like that.

Tell Average Joe that in England it's been known for prisoners to sue the Prison Service for lumpy mattresses!

I'm sorry for being intrusive in to your blog. But I am Melissa and I am a mother of two that is just trying to get out of an incredible financial debt. See my hubby is away in Iraq trying to protect this great country that we live in, and I am at home with our two kids telling bill collectors please be patiant. When my husband returns from war we will beable to catch up on our payments. We have already had are 2001 Ford repossessed from the bank, and are now down to a 83 buick that is rusted from front to back and the heater don't work, and tire tax is due in November.

I'm not asking for your pitty because we got our ownselfs into this mess but we would love you and thank you in our prayers if you would just keep this link on your blog for others to view.